Question on current status and need for stamping

[prakxs]

Can some one please advise me on my situation.

I am on L2 visa and with EAD i joined a company as full time employee.

1. The company filed my H1 as a COS in last year quote (October 2011) and in march, 2012 i got an RFE.
2. Since my visa L2 was expiring (April, 14, 2012), and my H1 didn’t come through, I filed for L2 extension with my husband. Mean while, I worked on my RFE and sent the response to USCIS
3. My L2 was approved on April, 12, 2012 and my H1 was approved on April 19, 2012.

Now I will have two I94s
My questions are :
1. Will I be on H1, since that is the latest approved I94
2. Do I need to go for a stamping or can i just ignore my L2 I94 and join back to work with H1 I 94.

thank you.
best
paddy

[shervin143]

Now I will have two I94s
My questions are :
1. Will I be on H1, since that is the latest approved I94
>>> Yes. You are in H1B status as per the last action rule and you should be working for the H1B employer now to maintain the H1B status. If not, you are currently out of status.

2. Do I need to go for a stamping or can i just ignore my L2 I94 and join back to work with H1 I 94.
>>> Visa is only an entry document to U.S. You need it only when you want to enter U.S in H1B status. You should be working for the H1B employer as of April 19th. If not, you are currently out of status on H1B and your employment with the other employer on L2 is illegal.

[prakxs]

thanks Sherwin.

yes I am employed with the H1 employer. the same employer who hired me on L2 (EAD), filed for my H1. So i didnt have any employment change issues.

One final question though.
Does the validity start date of the H1 petition play any role in this context. I havent got my hard copy of petition yet, but typically, H1 validity starts from Oct 1- right, so was wondering, whether that means H1 status started from Oct 1 and L2 status from Apr 12.

thanks
Paddy

[shervin143]

H1B status would have started only from the date on which the H1B petition got approved unless the petition was filed with the effective date to be in the future. Since your petition got approved only on April 19, that will be your effective date and not Oct 1st 2011.